Visitor Levy Software for Scottish Self-Catering

What is Scotland's Visitor Levy (tourist tax)?

The Edinburgh Visitor Levy

The City of Edinburgh Council charges a 5% levy on the cost of overnight self-catering accommodation, capped at the first five consecutive nights of a stay. It applies to stays from 24 July 2026 that were booked and paid for (in part or in full) on or after 1 October 2025. Self-catering properties are included, whatever their turnover.

As the accommodation provider, you collect the levy from your holiday let guests, submit a return every quarter and pay the council. If you manage properties for owners, you also need to decide who hands the money over and how it shows up on owner statements.

Other Scottish Local Authority / Council Areas

Glasgow's levy follows in January 2027, and other Scottish councils are consulting on their own schemes, so this isn't going away.

At the time of publication, these are the schemes confirmed / currently operating:

Council	Status	Rate	Bookings taken from	For stays after	First payment
City of Edinburgh	Live	5%	October 2025	July 2026	October 2026
Glasgow City	Confirmed	5%	April 2026	January 2027	April 2027
Aberdeen City	Confirmed	7%	October 2026	April 2027	July 2027
Stirling	Confirmed	3%	January 2027	June 2027
West Dunbartonshire	Confirmed	5%	October 2026	July 2027
Argyll & Bute, Dundee City, East Lothian, Falkirk, Highland, Perth & Kinross	Consulting

Table above last updated: 23rd September 2026

Automatic visitor levy calculation on every booking

Every Bookster short-term let booking now carries a cost breakdown. You'll find it on the booking view, split into the accommodation cost, the levy, your agency fees and any channel commission. Bookster works out the levy for you, so there's nothing to add by hand.

How the Edinburgh Visitor Levy (tourist tax) is calculated

The levy is 5% of the cost of the accommodation, charged on the first five consecutive nights of a stay.

Example: a guest books 7 nights at £120 a night. The levy applies to 5 nights (£600), so the levy is £30. Nights six and seven carry no levy.

It applies to stays from 24 July 2026 that were booked and paid for (in part or in full) on or after 1 October 2025.

In Bookster... 

The calculation in Bookster for Edinburgh Council's rules:

• It charges 5% on the first five nights only, however long the stay
• It skips bookings made before 1 October 2025 and stays that started before 24 July 2026
• It charges nothing on cancelled, rejected or failed bookings
• It rolls up correctly on multi-unit bookings

Hover over the information icon beside the levy and Bookster explains which rules it used. If a figure changes later - say you correct a property's council - the change is recorded in the booking's history. 

Set up your self-catering properties once

Each property now has a local authority setting. Once a property is assigned to the City of Edinburgh Council, Bookster applies the levy to its bookings from then on. Two further settings let you match the way your agency actually works.

Who remits the levy?

The 'accommodation provider' is the person liable to pay the levy.

Agencies can make a payment to the council on their owners' behalf, but the agency may not  want to do this for all their properties.

Bookster allows some properties to be included and some excluded depending on who (agency or owner) is paying the levy.

Which calculation you use

The council's guidance says the levy is a percentage of the accommodation charge, but doesn't say how to treat agency fees or channel commission. Accountants differ, so Bookster offers two options per property:

• Accommodation Only - takes agency fees and channel commission off before charging the levy
• Full Total - charges the levy on the whole booking value

Full Total always produces the larger figure. Check with your accountant which one fits your contracts, then set it once.

See what visitor levy you owe, by quarter 

You'll find a new Local taxes page under the Bookings menu. It totals the levy by the month your guests depart, grouped into quarters. 

Keep track of how much levy you're holding

Deposits make "how much levy should be in the bank?" a harder question than it sounds.

Bookster answers it three ways, side by side, for every quarter not yet due:

• Fully paid - the levy on bookings paid in full only
• Proportional - the levy pro-rated on what guests have paid so far
• All - the whole levy on every booking where you've taken a payment

Together they give you a range: the least that should be sitting in your account, your best estimate and the most. If you keep a separate account for levy money, the Proportional figure is the one to reconcile against.

Download your quarterly visitor levy return

Bookster can produce a spreadsheet laid out the way the council's return needs it, with a column per month for:

1. Revenue from accommodation
2. Revenue from bookings made before the eligible date
3. Revenue from nights beyond the five-night cap
4. The levy Bookster calculated

The council works out its own figure from the first three groups. The fourth is there so you can compare the two before you file.

The return only includes properties where you remit the levy, and leaves out stays that began before the levy started.

Visitor levy on owner statements

The levy is paid by the accommodation provider (which in your case could the owner of the propery).  You will need to ensure that the Owner covers the payment that you can made on their behalf to the council.  

Bookster can automatically add a line with the amount paid to the council to their monthly Owner Invoices to reflect this disbursement (payment from the Owner to the Agency).

Owners get a clear record of where their money went, and you don't have to explain the same figures every month.

Ready for Glasgow and other Scottish councils

We built the levy tools around local authorities rather than around one city. The same framework handles a percentage of accommodation, a flat amount per person per night or a single fee per booking, each with its own dates and rules.

As more Scottish councils introduce levies, we can add them without you changing the way you work.

Where and when you file your visitor levy return

Your visitor levy return and payments go through visitorlevy.scot, the national online service built by the Improvement Service with Scottish councils.

Bookings through Airbnb and Booking.com

Booking.com says it has attributed 5% of the nightly rate to the Edinburgh levy since 1 October 2025. Check whether the platform or you remits the levy for each channel, so you don't pay it twice or miss it. Bookster brings in the channel commission in each booking's breakdown, so you can see exactly what the levy was charged on.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Edinburgh Visitor Levy?

It's a 5% charge on the cost of overnight accommodation in Edinburgh, capped at five consecutive nights. It applies to stays from 24 July 2026 booked and paid for on or after 1 October 2025.

Does the Visitor Levy apply to holiday lets and self-catering properties?

Yes. It covers all overnight accommodation in the City of Edinburgh Council area, including self-catering and short-term lets, whatever the provider's turnover.

How often do I need to submit a Visitor Levy return in Scotland?

Every quarter. Bookster's Local taxes screen shows each quarter's payment due date and lets you download the return in one click.

Does Bookster add a levy on cancelled bookings?

No. There is no levy on stays that don't happen, so Bookster sets the levy to zero on cancelled, rejected and failed bookings.

Can I charge commission on the Visitor Levy?

That's your agency's decision. Bookster lets you calculate owner commission inclusive or exclusive of the levy, and keeps it inclusive until you choose otherwise.

What if some of my owners pay the levy themselves?

You can mark each property as remitted by the agent or by the owner. Bookster only includes agent-remitted properties in your return and only adds a disbursement line to those owners' statements.